FIOD

Customs officers in the Netherlands found 70 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside the hold of a ship in Amsterdam harbor. The street value of the seized cocaine is €1.7 million, according to financial crimes investigation service FIOD.

So far, nobody was arrested in connection with the raid. The cargo ship arrived in the Netherlands from Brazil, and was carrying grain.

The packages of cocaine were found on December 16, but authorities only first revealed the bust on Monday. The drugs were later destroyed.

A total of 90 people arrested in a large international action against the Italian mafia clan 'Ndrangheta on Wednesday morning, was announced at a press conference at European judicial cooperation body Eurojust in The Hague. As part of 'Operation Pollino', the police and judiciary in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium raided various locations.

Customs officers found hundreds of kilograms of hard drugs during a check at a storage company in Hazerswoude Dorp, Zuid-Holland on Tuesday. The drugs were hidden in a shipment of Christmas decorations, FIOD, the Tax Authority's investigative department, said on Thursday.

The decorations and drugs were set to be shipped to England. The drugs were seized and destroyed. FIOD and the police are investigating.

A FIOD spokesperson could not tell NOS what type of drugs were involved.

A 61-year-old man from Capelle aan den IJssel was arrested for the private use of 800 thousand euros in donations to foundation Droom Wens. He used the money on gambling sites, in casinos and for private expenses, RTL Nieuws reports.

FIOD, the Tax Authorities' investigative department, could not say how the man is connected to the foundation. Administration, promotional materials, and collection boxes were confiscated from the man's home.

The Public Prosecutor reached a settlement of 775 million euros with ING. The bank allowed customers to abuse their accounts for the laundering of hundreds of millions of euros between 2010 and 2016, NOS reports.

The amount of the settlement consists of a 675 million euros fine and a reimbursement of 100 million euros. According to the Public Prosecutor, ING did not properly fulfill its role as gatekeeper of the financial system and was negligent in preventing money laundering.

An experiment in which the police and Dutch banks exchange the names of terrorist suspects is having possible results. Some 300 suspicious transactions were found over the past year. These transactions are being investigated further, NOS reports.

Two brothers from Utrecht and a woman from Alphen aan den Rijn were arrested on for financing terrorism. They sent money to three men suspected of joining terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq. The three jihadists are the brothers of the two Utrecht men, and the woman used to date one of them, NOS reports.

Two subsidiaries of construction company VolkerWessels are suspected of paying bribes to obtain construction contracts on Sint Maarten. The Tax Authority's investigative department FIOD is investigating, a spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor confirmed to ANP.

On Tuesday the police busted a drug network in Brunssum, Limburg. Four men were arrested for trading drugs on the dark web, and sending drugs all across the world through the regular postal service, the Public Prosecutor announced on Friday.

This investigation was launched after PostNL found drugs in packages during a drug check. According to the Prosecutor, the suspects had clients all over the world and sent drugs, mostly ecstasy, to their clients in normal postal packages and envelopes.

A building that burned down in Bergen op Zoom on Monday night contained an illegal cigarette factory. Tens of thousands of packets of cigarettes were found between the rubble of the burned building on Tuesday morning, Omroep Brabant reports.

The fire started in what was believed to be an empty building on an industrial terrain on Vierlinghweg on Monday night. It caused a massive cloud of smoke that spread over large parts of Bergen op Zoom and was even visible outside Noord-Brabant.

Two men from Deventer has been in custody since March 26th on suspicion of financing terrorism in Syria, the Public Prosecutor announced on Tuesday.

The suspects, aged 28 and 36 years, surfaced during an international investigation into terrorism financing. Between 2015 and their arrest, they paid money to jihadists fighting in Syria through exchange offices in Turkey, according to the prosecutor. They did so on behalf of the Dutch jihadists' friends and family. The Prosecutor did not say how much money was involved.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee and other special investigative services like the FIOD will soon have the authority to launch undercover operations, deploy infiltrators and listen in on confidential communication themselves, according to an adopted legislative amendment that takes effect this summer, the Volkskrant reports.

The Tax Authority's investigative department FIOD arrested six men on Tuesday in a fraud investigation. The men, aged 20 to 39 years, are suspected of posing as tax employees and scamming millions of euros from Dutch entrepreneurs. The police and FIOD received over 170 reports from victims. In total the criminal gang stole over 2.2 million euros, NU.nl reports.

The police also raided five homes in Arnhem and seized administration, cash, bank cards, a Mercedes and the pin numbers of 'money mules' - people whose bank accounts were abused for criminal purposes.

The Tax Authority's investigation service FIOD is investigating fraud with construction invoices at Schiphol airport. Several employees and former employees of the airport and external companies working for Schiphol are suspected of involvement, NRC reports.

The Public Prosecution Service confirmed to the newspaper that an investigation was launched into "passive and active bribery" and involvement in forgery. Ten to 15 people are being questioned as suspects and witnesses, NRC writes based on anonymous sources.

Investment management firm Finles in Utrecht is suspected of tax fraud, according to a report published in the Telegraaf. During the alleged dodging of 45 million euros in dividend tax, former CDA Foreign Minister Ben Bot was the chairman of the supervisory board.

Amsterdam Trade Bank, the Dutch subsidiary of Russia's Alfa Bank, was raided as part of a money laundering investigation last week, Marieke van der Molen of the Public Prosecution Service confirmed to NL Times.

An older couple was arrested in Gennep, Limburg in an Dutch-led international investigation into fraud and money laundering, the Public Prosecutor announced. The 81-year-old man and 61-year-old woman are accused of tax fraud, money laundering, forgery and illegal banking. According to the Prosecutor, the amount involved in the couple's crimes is estimated at over 41 million euros.

The Dutch police still do too little to fight corruption within their own ranks, according to an investigation by the Ministry of Security and Justice's Scientific Research and Documentation Center, NOS reports.

Police officer screening is still not properly done, according to the researchers. "Ever fewer employees are subject to the heavier forms of screening", the report reads. The screening investigations are also less detailed than in the past and too few interim screenings are done.

The police raided nine homes and companies across Noord-Brabant on Tuesday as part of a major money laundering investigation. A limousine rental company in Kaatsheuvel was one of the addresses raided. At least two limousines will be seized, a police spokesperson said to NU.nl.

Addresses in Waalwijk, Rijen, Almkerk and Aalst were also raided. About a hundred people took part in this action, including police officers, FIOD officers, and soldiers. A number of sniffer dogs were also used.

The police arrested four people and seized 1 million euros in cash in an investigation into providers of smartphones that encrypt communication data. Investigators believe the suspects sold these encrypted phones to criminals, RTL Nieuws reports.

The encryption makes it harder for the authorities to listen in on conversations or read text messages from a distance. This trait makes encrypted phones extremely popular among criminals who want to hide their communication from the police.

A cargo inspector at the port of Rotterdam was arrested two weeks ago on suspicion of involvement in the trafficking of nearly 200 kilograms of cocaine, the Public Prosecutor announced on Tuesday. The 42-year-old man from Rotterdam was connected to the discovery of cocaine in the shaft of one of the anchor chains of a Colombian coal carrier at the end of March.

The tax authorities investigative department FIOD arrested two persons in charge of a well known sushi chain in Rotterdam on Tuesday on suspicion of large-scale fraud, AD reports.

A criminal investigation was launched into the duo after a tax audit at one of the sushi restaurants revealed that data was deleted from the point-of-sale system. The tax authorities believe that this was done to skim revenue.

Skimming revenue in order to evade taxes is considered fraud. According to FIOD it distorts competition and harms tax payers.

The Dutch tax authorities' investigative department FIOD arrested a 65-year-old employee of an unnamed multinational as part of an investigation into corporate espionage. He is suspected of leaking corporate secrets, including patent rights, to a competitor in China in exchange for money, the Public Prosecutor announced on Friday.

The man was arrested at a train station in Twente. According to the Prosecutor, he was about to travel to China. The man's luggage, workplace and Twente home were all searched. The prosecutor seized physical files as well as digital data carriers.